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Papers quoted in Current Contents on project 6-02-105
Quoted papers: 3
Other papers: 205
Total: 208
Title: A NOTE ON TYPES OF ROMANESQUE BELL-TOWERS IN ISTRIA
- Authors:
- DEMONJA, DAMIR
Journal: RADOVI INSTITUTA ZA POVIJEST UMJETNOSTI
Number: 17/2
ISSN: 0350-3437
Year: 1993
Pages: from 19 to 31
Language: hrvatski
Summary: In Istria we may distinguish between types of Romanesque
bell-tower: a tower erected on the centre-line of the main front;
free-standing bell-towers - campaniles -; bell-towers adjoining or
incorporated in a wall of the church; bell-towers within the perimeter of
the walls on the west side; bell-towers erected above the chancel, and so
called "open" bell-towers.
The church of St. Elias near Bale has its bell-tower prominently located on
the centre-line of the front elevation. The walls of the tower are
organically joined to the west wall of the church up to the roof level,
which is evidence that they were erected at the same time. A flying
buttress beneath the biforium is supported by a dentellated corbel, which
clearly dates the tower as belonging to the 11th century. Features of the
free-standing bell-tower or campanile are its solid structure, its height,
the mainly non-segmented carved decoration of its panels; the topmost
storey is pierced by Romanesque single or double embrasures, and the roof
is pyramidal or conical. Our example is the bell-tower of the parish church
in Bale, which has Romanesque features and semi-circular arched biforia on
the top storey. The concil apex to its tapering structure, stressing its
vertical dimension, is Gothic in character. These features would suggest a
date about the middle of the 14th century. A bell-tower annexed to a side
wall or to the front elevation has the same morphological characteristics
as the free-standing bell-tower or campanile. One example is the bell-tower
of the Church of St. George the Elder in Plomin. A bell-tower within the
perimeter of the church on the west side has the same formal features we
encounter in the two preceding types. The only example in Istria is the
belfry of St. Lawrence's church in the cemetery near Sutlovreč Pazenatički.
Even this attribution is valid only up to a point, for it may be matter of
a later adaptation. The stylistic features of the bell-tower are
Romanesque-Gothic, and it might possibly be dated as mid-fourteenth
century. Two special and unique forms of Istrian bell-tower are: the
bell-tower erected over the chancel of the church and the so-called "open"
bell-tower. The bell-tower above the chancel in St. George's church located
between Završje and Grožnjan is the sole example of bell-tower of this type
in Istria. It was probably built in the 13th century above the south apse,
from dressed stones arranged in layers, and on a rectangular ground-plan.
Halfway up it tapers gradually towards the summit, it lacks decoration and
segmentation and is closed as first floor level. The entrance to the tower
is on the south side, with an outside staircase leading to a door opening
above the crown of the apse. This type of bell-tower is not common in
Italy, where in fact it occurs very rarely, and the only example known to
me is the bell-tower of the abbey church in Summaga. In Slovenia, on the
other hand, in its northern part which is affiliated more to Austria and
Germany, there are number of examples of a similiar design. However, the
bell-tower over the southern apse of St. George's church between Završje
and Grožnjan is the result of a reductive process involving a bell-tower
above the chancel with its memorial shrine at ground level. When the
bell-tower is thus sited, the chancel acquires an external distinguishing
feature; this manner of erecting bell-towers was current from the 11th
century onwards. The so-called "open" bell-tower probably from northern
Italy: it is familiar to us from a fairly dilapidated example - St.
Thomas's church near Rovinj. At the northern end of the north side of the
church a square bell-tower rises up by the centre of the wall. Its northern
wall is pierced by a deep niche with a semi-circular arch, while its
uppermost floor has broad semicircular apertures. More or less in the wider
vicinity a similiar bell-tower may be found in the church of St. John the
Baptist in Treviso.
Keywords: Istra, bell-towers, types, romanesque period, tower erected on the centre-line of the main front, free-standing bell-tower - campanile, bell-tower adjoining or incorporated in the wall of the church, bell-tower within the perimeter of the walls on the west side, bell-tower erected above the chancel, "open" bell-tower.
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